Garment hanger



May 13, 1969 I w. P. CROCKETT, JR 3,

GARMENT HANGER Filed Oct. 13, 1967 Inventor wilh am P. Crocke'HJr.

United States Patent 3,443,289 GARMENT HANGER William P. Crockett, In, 1301 N. Larrabee, Chicago, Ill. 60610 Filed Oct. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 675,195 Int. Cl. A47g 25/04; A47j 51/08 US. Cl. 24-137 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This application discloses a clip which is mountable on an elongated member, such as a clothes hanger crossbar. The clip includes a resilient body section which has a pair of depending arms which are urged apart by the resiliency of the body section. One arm of the clip has an entry for the elongated member which leads to an upwardly terminating slot and the other arm has an upwardly terminating slot which cooperates with the first slot to force the arms together in response to a movement of the elongated member in the slots toward the terminating ends of the slots. The arms are provided with clamping portions remote from the resilient body section which are moved together to clamp an item therebetween in response to movement of the elongated member inwardly of the slots. One or more of such clips on a hanger may be used to hold various garments, such as trousers, skirts, ties and the like.

This invention relates to a clip which cooperates with an elongated member to effect incremental clamping actions. In particular, the invention relates to a clip which is advantageously used with the crossbar of a clothes hanger so that garments of different dimensions may be clamped by one or more of said clips mounted on the clothes hanger. Certain industries dealing with garments have a long felt need for an inexpensive reliable hanger which can be simply operated.

Efforts have been made to provide hanger means for use with conventional wire clothes hangers which are widely distributed and economical to manufacture. In establishments, such as retail stores and cleaning outlets, the economically produced wire clothes hangers are not successfully used with certain types of garments. Such hangers have been modified by providing paper channels or rigid paper tubes for the crossbar to hold garments, such as trousers, skirts or the like. More expensive hangers have also been used for such purposes, such as wooden hangers, clampable flat members, and more complicated hangers with attached clips.

In view of the foregoing it is one object of this invention to provide an inexpensive clip which can be cooperatively used with the inexpensive and widely available wire clothes hangers; and which can be used without requiring complicated attachments to the clothes hanger.

Another important object is to provide an inexpensive clip of the foregoing type which not only may be quickly and simply used in combination with the clothes hanger, but which provides other advantages such as selective clamping positions which may be efliciently and securely effected.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a clip of the type described which can be formed 3,443,289 Patented May 13, 1969 as an integral body element, and which can be efficiently and inexpensively manufactured while still providing many and desirable features which lead to efiicient and versatile uses.

Objects such as those recited are realized by the in vention of the following disclosure which includes drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a wire clothes hanger showing two mounted clips of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view on an enlarged scale taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view in the plane of FIGURE 2 but showing the clip in a fully closed position;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a stamped out blank from which the clip of the invention is formed;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view taken in the same plane as FIGURE 4 of a clip partly formed; and

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view along line 66 of FIGURE 5 The use of like numerals in the various views will indicate a reference to the same structure, parts, or elements as the case may be.

Each clip is formed from a single flat sheet cut or stamped to form a fiat integral body member shown at 8 in FIGURE 4. Thebody member is shown in FIG- URE 4 with a central portion or head or pivot point 10, and a pair of depending arms 12 and 14 extending in opposite directions. The body member has clamping elements 16 and 18 which are disposed, respectively, ad-

jaccnt to the ends of the arms 12 and 14. The integral body member 8 is preferably formed from a flat sheet of solid material having a resiliency of the order of aluminum, brass, or plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride or the like. The central portion 10 is provided with a permanent set bend approaching about a relatively large radius to form the head or pivot point of the body member. The arms of the clip position the clamping portions 16 and 18 in a normally spaced apart relation, and the resiliency of the pivot point urges the arms back to this spaced apart position when they are forced closer together. An elongated ridge 19, best seen in FIGURE 5, is preferably formed in the head 10 to make the formed clip more resilient.

The arm 12 has lateral members 12a and 12b spaced apart a selected distance. Arm 14 also has lateral members or walls 14a and 14b which are spaced apart a distance greater than the distance between members 12a and 12b. This permits the spaced members of arm 12 to move between spaced members of arm 14 when the arms are forced closer together. The lateral dimensions of the spaced members are preferably preset so that substantially the entire width of arm 12 may move between the members of the arm 14 when the clip is moved to a fully closed position.

Such a fully closed position is determined, in part, by the dimensions and conformations of two parallel spaced slots 20 in arm 12 and two parallel spaced slots 22 in arm .14. The slots 20 and 22 are linear and have a width slightly greater than the diameter of the crossbar 7. Each slot 20 is formed by aligned cut-outs in each of the spaced lateral members 12a and 12b of the arm 12. Slots 22 are formed by a single opening 22' in the arm 14 which also forms an outside entry 22a for both slots 22. The mouths of the slots 20 form an inside entry 20a for the arm 12. The slots 20 and 22 are approximately aligned at their ends adjacent to the head when the arms 12 and 14 are in abutment, and the slots and 22 diverge from said ends in angularly disposed relationship. Hence when the crossbar 7 is urged toward the head 10, it bears against the slots 20 and the slots 22 to force the arms 12 and 14 toward each other. When the bar is moved away from the ends of the slots 20 and 22, the resiliency of the head forces the arms 12 and 14 outwardly and the crossbar 7 engages the slots 20 and the slots 22 at locations spaced from the ends of the slots to lock the arms 12 and 14 in an open position. In this manner, the position of the crossbar 7 in the slots 20 and slots 22 controls the space of the clamping portions 16 and 18 within the range of movement of the arms 12 and 14 of the clamp.

The force bearing inside edges of the slots 20 and 22 are preferably serrated or roughened, as shown at 20b and 22b, to enhance gripping of the crossbar 7 due to the wedging action of the outwardly biased arms. The position of the crossbar 7 prior to initiating clamping action is seen in FIGURE 2 where the crossbar 7 is wedged between two spaced curved seats 22c disposed adjacent to the inside entries 22a of the slots 22 and points 200 of slots 20 protruding adjacent to the entries 20a.

The seats 22c and points 200 prevent the clip from falling from the crossbar 7 once the two elements are assembled. The arm 14 is provided with a recessed region 22d in each of the walls 14a and 14b between the seats 22c and the entry 22a, and the crossbar 7 may be removed from the slots in the clamp by forcing the arms 12 and 14 toward each other to position the recessed regions 22d in confrontation with the points 20c, thereby providing adequate space for passage of the crossbar between the points 200 and the recesses 22d. FIGURE 2 illustrates the open position of the clamp.

For purposes of illustration, a completely closed clamping operation is indicated in FIGURE 3 where the crossbar 7 is moved to the top or terminating portions of the overlapping slots 20, 22.

It is an advantage that the clip of this invention may be formed from an inexpensive stamped out blank such as indicated at 8 in FIGURE 4. The body member 8 is shown as a flattened sheet stamped out according to predetermined design to provide the various structures of the clip.

At opposite ends of the body member 8 are the clamping portions 16, 18 which have transverse axes which are equal to the transverse axes of the blank 8. Immediately inward of the clamping portions 16 are outwardly extending portions 24a and 24b which are bent upwardly in the plane of FIGURE 4 along two spaced parallel axes to form the walls 12a and 12b. The slots 20, of course, assume the desired positions in the walls 12a and 12b when the walls are formed by the bending process. In like manner, the blank 8 has two outwardly extending portions 26a and 26b disposed inwardly of the clamping portion 18. These portions 26a and 26b are bent upwardly in the plane of FIGURE 4 along two parallel axes spaced by a greater distance than the axes of the bends of walls 12a and 12b, and in this manner walls 14a and 14b are formed. The bending of theportions 26a and 26b forms the slots 22 and the entry 2211. It is to be noted that the walls 12a and 12b and the walls 14a and 14b form essentially rigid arms 12 and 14 between the clamping portions 16 and 18 and the pivot region or head 10.

The central portion 10 of the body member 8 also has side extensions 28a and 28b which are not turned in after the clip is formed but which form the curvilinear head 10 of the clip. This enlarged side to side extension of the curved portion or head 10, together with ridge 19, imparts greater resilience to urge the arms apart in the formed clip. The head 10 thus forms a hinge joint or pivotal region along an axis normal to the longitudinal axes of the arms 12 and 14.

The foregoing clip is used to advantage with garment hangers having an elongated crossbar, such as the ordinary clothes hanger. In preferred practice, one or two clips will be mounted on a crossbar in open position, and can be clamped on a garment when the garment is available for hanging. The clip will engage the crossbar 7 in the seat 220 and be held by the point 200 when no garments are clamped. By positioning the crossbar 7 in the slots 20 and 22, a Variety of garments such as trousers, skirts, ties, shorts and the like, of widely different thicknesses may be clamped and secured.

The particular positioning of the slots 20 and 22 can be varied, but it is preferred that the slots have entries, one of which opens on the outside and the other of which opens on the inside of the clip. Such entries could, however, be otherwise placed, such as at the bottom of the clip, and in that event the slots 22 are formed in essen tially the same manner as the slots 20.

Forming the clip by the described method from the blank is preferred and economical, but other forms and methods may be used. For example, the entire clip may be molded from plastic.

The invention claimed is:

1. A clip adapted to be mounted on an elongated member comprising a first and a second arm, ;means defining a hinge joint secured to one end of each arm, the arms being pivotable on said joint, each of said arms having a clamping face adjacent to the end thereof opposite the hinge joint, and the clamping faces abutting each other in one pivotal position of the arms, each of said arms having a wall disposed in a plane normal to the pivot axis of the hinge joint and an elongated slot having a transverse axis slightly greater than the transverse axis of the elongated member disposed in the wall, the walls of the arms being disposed adjacent to each other with the slots confronting each other, the slot in the wall of one arm being disposed at an acute angle to the slot in the wall of the other arm, said slots being adapted to accommodate the elongated member, whereby translating the elongated member in the slots relative to the hinge joint positions the clamping faces relative to each other.

2. A clip adapted to be mounted on an elongated member comprising the combination of claim 1 wherein the first and second arms and hinge joint are integral portions of a body member, the body member being of resilient material and the hinge joint being formed by a bend in the body member between the arms, said bend having a permanent set less than degrees, whereby the arms are biased in an open position.

3. A clip adapted to be mounted on an elongated member comprising the combination of claim 2 wherein the opposed edges of the slots in the walls of the first and second arm are serrated to more securely clamp the elongated member.

4. A clip adapted to be mounted on an elongated member comprising the combination of claim 1 wherein the first arm has two spaced parallel walls and a U-shaped cross-section, each of the walls of the first arm having a substantially identical slot and the slots being aligned with each other.

5. A clip adapted to be mounted on an elongated member comprising the combination of claim 4 wherein the second-arm has two spaced parallel walls and a U-shaped cross-section, the walls of the second arm being spaced outwardly of the walls of the first arm, and each of the walls of the second arm having a substantially identical slot and the slots in the walls of the second arm being aligned with each other.

6. A clip adapted to be mounted on an elongated member comprising the combination of claim 5 wherein the slots in the walls of the first arm and the slots in the walls of the second arm are parallel to each other in an open pivotal position of the clamping faces, the slots in the walls of the first arm having entries on the inner side of 5 the walls, and the slots in the walls of the second arm having a single entry formed by an interconnecting gap in the outer sides of the walls.

7. A clip adapted to be mounted on an elongated member comprising the combination of claim 6 wherein the 5 slots in the second arms have a part circular seat adjacent to the entries thereof adapted to accommodate the elongated member and a relieved portion between each seat and the entry, and the walls of the first arm have points extending from the slots therein adjacent to the entries to engage the elongated member when the clamp is in its open position.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 3/ 1962 Switzerland.

US. Cl. X.R. 

